Hundreds of herbal medicinal products will be banned from sale in Britain next year under what campaigners say is a "discriminatory and disproportionate" European law.

With four months to go before the EU-wide ban is implemented, thousands of patients face the loss of herbal remedies that have been used in the UK for decades.

From 1 May 2011, traditional herbal medicinal products must be licensed or prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner to comply with an EU directive passed in 2004. The directive was introduced in response to rising concern over adverse effects caused by herbal medicines...

...According to the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), which represents herbal practitioners, not a single product used in traditional Chinese medicine or ayurvedic medicine has been licensed. In Europe, around 200 products from 27 plant species have been licensed but there are 300 plant species in use in the UK alone.

The ANH estimates the cost of obtaining a licence at between £80,000 and £120,000 per herb. They say this is affordable for single herbal products with big markets, such as echinacea, a remedy for colds and flu, but will drive small producers of medicines containing multiple herbs out of business.

New research has shown that, even in their relatively remote arctic homes, exposure to toxins and chemicals have compounded to make polar bears the most contaminated creatures on the planet.

The problem begins in Europe, Asia, and North America, where industrial and agricultural pollutants are released into the air and water. Ocean and atmospheric currents carry these pollutants north and they eventually settle in the Arctic.

Reacting to a French pledge to represent the "common interest" in considering biotech foods, a former US ambassador recommended publishing a "retaliation list" of European locations where genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were being grown in hopes that activists would destroy them and "cause some pain" for officials, a leaked diplomatic cable shows.

In a confidential communication dated Dec. 14, 2007 and released by WikiLeaks on Sunday, then-US Ambassador to France Craig Roberts Stapleton recommended creating the list if France and the EU continued to ban biotech seeds.

The vast majorities of processed foods are packed with calories and have been stripped of any nutrients that we require to maintain optimal health. Over the course of years and decades, the lack of vitamins and minerals from natural foods slowly leads to chronic disease conditions such as diabetes, cancer, dementia and heart disease.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Mary Nash Stoddard of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network informs us: “In 1998, Monsanto applied for FDA approval for a monster molecule, “based on the aspartame formula” with one critical addition: 3-dimethylbutyl [listed on EPA's most hazardous chemical list]. Neotame is touted as being 13,000 times sweeter than sugar.

On July 5 2002, Monsanto’s Neotame molecule was approved by the US FDA over formally registered objections of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and others. Long term effects on humans are unknown.

The food labeling requirements for aspartame have now been dropped for Neotame, and no one is clear why this was allowed to happen.

Energy-saving light bulbs were at the centre of a fresh health scare last night after researchers claimed they can release potentially harmful amounts of mercury if broken. Levels of toxic vapour around smashed eco-bulbs were up to 20 times higher than the safe guideline limit for an indoor area, the study said.

It added that broken bulbs posed a potential health risk to pregnant women, babies and small children.

The European Union is phasing out the traditional ‘incandescent bulbs’ used for more than 120 years and is forcing people to switch to low-energy alternatives to meet its climate change targets.

The Daily Mail reports that during the tests, the German government agency's researchers were alarmed to discover that some bulbs had no protective cover and broke when hot.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

In arguing for S.501, the "Food Safety Modernization Act," there are all sorts of attorneys, legislators and internet commentators who keep claiming, "The government won't try to control the food production of small farms." They say, "Your backyard garden is safe" and that the feds won't come knocking on your door to control your seeds or foods.

As usual, these pushers of Big Government are utterly ignorant of the history in their own country. Because as you'll learn right here, not only CAN the U.S. government control and dictate to single-family farms what they can grow in their own backyards; the government has already blatantly done so!

The pharmaceutical industry has zoomed by the defense industry to become the biggest defrauder of the federal governement based on payments obtained under the federal False Claims Act, according to an analysis by the group Public Citizen.

Since 1991, there have been 165 major settlements of civil and criminal cases resulting in fines and payments totaling nearly $20 billion, the organization reported.

"Desperate to maintain their high margin of profit in the face of a dwindling number of important new drugs, these figures show that the industry has engaged in such activities as dangerous, illegal promotion for unapproved uses of drugs and deliberately overcharging vital government health programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid," said Sidney Wolfe, director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Dr. Mark R. Geirer, MD, PhD and David A. Geier had conducted a study which had evaluated doses of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Their examination had shown there is an increased risk between the mercury levels and neurodevelopmental disorders and heart disease. The study was published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Note: Heed our government's deadly propaganda at your own risk. Do you really think Mr. Obama is getting an armful of the same poison they give to the rest of us?-Ed.

Who needs a flu vaccination? The answer is, everyone needs to get a shot of the flu vaccine. The new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say everyone over the age of six months needs to get an influenza vaccination, including the so called, low risk demographic, those in good health between 19 and 49 years old.

And now there’s even a safe way to give the influenza vaccine to newborn infants and those still in the womb. Not only has the medical community recommended for years that pregnant women and older infants be given flu vaccines, but Yale University has just finished a three year study that demonstrates that giving the injections to pregnant women prevents 90% of influenza in infants under six months old.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Add air to the growing list of places where bisphenol A (BPA) is found, say a pair of Japanese researchers who have measured and reported levels of the chemical in the world's atmosphere. They discovered BPA in air samples from all over the world at widely varied levels – from almost nothing in remote areas near the poles to 10,000 times more than that in India and other heavily populated regions of Asia.

The results show the far reaching extent of BPA contamination and identify yet another likely source of exposure for people. Exposure is possible because researchers found that BPA floats in the air attached to particles that can infiltrate lungs. Still, the amounts of this exposure and any potential health risks from breathing the contaminated air are not known.

Researchers believe that BPA enters the air when plastics, electronics and other waste are burned, since the highest concentrations were measured near populated areas and coincided with high levels of other chemicals that are associated with burning plastics.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Just when you thought it was safe to relax a bit about S.510, here it is, alive and rolling through Congress like a fast-pitched baseball.It seems that nothing short of an act of God will stop this bill.

Sources on the Hill have informed us the Food Safety Bill was folded into the House Continuing Resolution, which authorizes the funding of government into 2011. As you may remember, the Food Safety Act was “blue slipped” by the House Democrats, after the Senate passed it, because Harry Reid included a section that raised taxes (which the Constitution requires to begin in the House). (Truth Farmer)

S.510 can be stopped right at your state governor’s door. Unless our governors give permission and designate one or more agencies inside your state to contract with USDA/FDA, they cannot implement, enforce or otherwise criminalize agriculture in your state. Because agriculture is outside the enumerated powers of the Constitution, your governor has to give permission to USDA/FDA or any of these other corporate government agencies to come into your state and set up shop. (PPJ Gazette)

If you want a look at the future for farmer's markets under an implemented S.510, take a look at this security video of the recent armed raid on Rawsome Foods, a collective selling raw milk and dairy products to its members:

Thursday, December 9, 2010

As we reported last week, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) new and absurdly low vitamin D recommendation flies in the face of scientific evidence. Now we need your help to get Congress to launch an investigation.

Some may ask, “Why are you treating this report as such a big deal? I’ll take however many vitamins I wish, and the government has no say in the matter.” But unless these findings are challenged, the public will accept it as true. Doctors, medical institutions, the media, and governmental agencies will all parrot these ultra-low recommendations on vitamin D dosage, pooh-poohing its important therapeutic benefits, and keeping the American public dangerously deficient in the vitamin. This will mean more colds, more flu, greater dependence on dangerous flu shots and antibiotics, more illness in general, more weak bones, more cancer, and many more deaths. Some experts calculate that proper vitamin D supplementation could save Americans $4.4 trillion over a decade—about $1,346 per person every year.

The term superfoods has been accused of becoming a marketing term, and it appears Sesame Street has jumped on the bandwagon with their new Superfood Muppets.

The fact that Merck is a partner in this new endeavor just reeks of suspicion. Pharmaceuticals make money off of sickness, and by promoting non-superfoods as such, it appears Big Pharma is behind duping parents and children about health and nutrition. It is not that bananas, whole wheat buns, and cheese are not healthy (although buns and cheese can be processed and contain additives), it’s simply misleading.The term superfoods has been accused of becoming a marketing term, and it appears Sesame Street has jumped on the bandwagon with their new Superfood Muppets.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Pregnant women who regularly use mobile phones could increase the risk of their children behaving badly, claims a startling survey.

If their offspring then start using the devices at an early age, the chance of problems climbs to 50 per cent, according to researchers. They found those exposed to mobile phones in the womb had a 30 per cent rise in behavioural difficulties at the age of seven. But those exposed before birth and in their childhood, were 50 per cent more likely to have behavioural problems than those exposed to neither.

Children who used mobiles, but were not exposed in the womb, were 20 per cent more likely to display abnormal behaviour. The findings by researchers in California are likely to reinforce warnings that children should not use mobile phones.

As Ghana marked the 26th National Farmers’ Day with a holiday last Friday, disturbing reports from the Upper East Region indicated that 15 persons had died from eating food poisoned with insecticides.

The Upper East Regional Coordinating Council claimed later at a news conference that only 12 persons had died as a result of what they described as “misapplication of agro-chemicals or the use of fake agro-chemicals by some farmers to fertilise their crops in these areas.”

Farmers were advised to read or seek information from any extension worker on the methods of applying agro-chemicals, especially when they were in doubt or dealing with agro-chemicals containing Endo-Sulphar.

“The Vatican did not endorse an 11-page final statement in favor of easing restrictions on and allowing more widespread use of genetically modified crops, especially in poorer nations,” a Vatican official said in a statement published by Catholic News Service.

In fact, “the Vatican has never taken a formal position supporting or opposing genetically modified foods,” reported CNS.

Being honest, I must confess some slight personal agitation at the thought of writing another article on yet another “food safety” bill making its way through congress with the words “tyranny” and “Codex” written all over it. It seems that every legislative session, we are faced with the prospect of the same food bill cloaked in a different name. Invariably, this bill seeks to corral all food production into the hands of a few major corporations and essentially destroy the ability of the population to feed themselves. Here in late 2010, we have the new version of food imperialism known as S.510, the Food Safety Modernization Act.

While it is true that S.510 contains new and improved tyrannical sections that are unique specifically to it, the truth is that it is merely a repackaging of past bills (See here and here ) and attempts to control people through food. It is also yet another attempt to implement Codex Alimentarius guidelines under the guise of domestic legislation.

One example of hidden Codex guidelines in the Food Safety Modernization Act are the overly broad provisions regarding “traceability.” The desire for enhanced traceability of food products is sold to the public as a desire to better respond to food-borne illnesses and follow them back to their source. However, as with almost anything that comes out of the mouth of government, there is a more sinister role that traceability programs have to play.

Essentially, traceability has little to do with food safety in this context. While no one could argue being able to trace food contamination back to the source is a bad thing, the fact is that these mechanisms already exist. Unfortunately, they are generally ignored and unused when it comes to adverse health effects related to food produced by multinational food corporations. While there is always an exception to the rule, it is a fact that international corporations are by far the source of food adulteration more often than small independent farms.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

A major drug maker and its consultants provided substantial content for a medical text that was later credited to a pair of prominent physicians, The New York Times reports.

The book–”Recognition and Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Psychopharmacology Handbook for Primary Care”– was published in 1999, and ostensibly co-authored by Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff, currently chairman of psychiatry at the University of Miami medical school, and Dr. Alan F. Schatzberg, who until last year was chairman of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Its purpose was to advise family doctors on the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

“To ghostwrite an entire textbook is a new level of chutzpah,” Dr. David A. Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told the Times. “I’ve never heard of that before. It takes your breath away.”

The way things stand now, consumers’ personal information — often sensitive stuff about our health — is being sold without our knowledge or consent to on-line marketers; they then use it to bombard us with sales pitches for expensive drugs, medical devices and even surgical procedures.

How does this happen? Let’s say that you’ve had a pain in your chest for the past two days. If you’re anything like me, you can’t wait to see a doctor. Instead you rush to your trusty computer and google “heart attack” or “chest pain” and try to figure out by wading through scores of websites, blogs, scholarly medical journals and interactive quizzes, whether you should call 911 immediately or stop snacking on Jalapeno peppers.

But when you make such a query, according to a 144-page complaint filed last week with the FTC by several consumer groups (the Center for Digital Democracy, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumer Watchdog and the World Privacy Forum), mechanisms designed to pick up your medical information are lurking everywhere. “Consumers now confront a sophisticated and largely stealth interactive medical marketing apparatus that has unleashed an arsenal of techniques designed to promote the use of specific brand drugs and influence consumers about treatment for health conditions,” states the complaint.

While over 200 organizations lobbied on the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510), no one seemed to notice an unconstitutional section in the bill until after it passed on Tuesday. That day, Roll Call advised that the bill contained a provision, Sec. 107, allowing the Senate to raise revenues. This violates Article I, Section 7, of the U.S. Constitution, granting that power exclusively to the House. S.510 opponents now celebrate the House’s use of the “blue slip process” to return the bill to the Senate.

After S.510 passed, President Obama issued a statement: “I urge the House — which has previously passed legislation demonstrating its strong commitment to making our food supply safer — to act quickly on this critical bill, and I applaud the work that was done to ensure its broad bipartisan passage in the Senate.”

Apparently, the Senate moved too quickly. Their overreach only supports the natural foods movement assertion that the entire bill is over-reaching as the federal government seeks complete control over local foods.

In an email, Canada Health whistleblower Shiv Chopra noted, “It is all about corporate control of food and public health.” He’s not alone in believing that a ‘hidden corporate agenda’ is driving the federal government to impose itself on local food production and distribution.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

FRESNO, Calif. – California regulators approved a pesticide Wednesday for use by fruit and vegetable growers despite heavy opposition from environmental and farmworker groups that cited its links to cancer.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation will register methyl iodide as a substitute for the pesticide methyl bromide, which is being phased out by international treaty because it depletes the Earth's protective ozone layer.

California's $1.6 billion strawberry industry will undoubtedly provide one of the biggest markets for the chemical, as will the Central Valley's nut orchards and the fresh flower nurseries dotting the coast in Ventura and San Diego counties.Full Article